In the automotive industry, in particular, it has become increasingly necessary to combine multiple functions in a single heat exchanger assembly. The need to reduce the number of overall components and to optimize assembly efficiency has driven the need for improved heat exchanger devices that combine increasingly efficient designs and multiple functions in packaging heretofore attainable using plural separate components or devices having inefficient designs. More specifically, there has been a growing need for an improved heat exchanger device, particularly for under the hood automotive vehicle applications, which combines multiple functions in a single assembly that is efficient to make and operate and that occupies substantially the same or less space than existing heat exchanger devices. Due to relatively recent advancements in the field, including, in particular, the development of combination heat exchanger assemblies or ‘combo coolers’, there is also a need to develop systems of more than one baffle to insure that multiple fluids be maintained basically separated from one another.
As stated above, particularly where a multifluid heat exchanger is to be employed, it is attractive to be able to maintain each of the different fluids of the exchanger separated from each other, The employment of baffles is one possible approach. However, until the present invention, baffle designs have often resulted in space problems, and the like, contributing to the loss of function or efficiency of one or more of the heat exchanger tubes. In particular, certain heat exchanger assemblies may have space requirements that extend to at least one core tube end in the tank. In such assemblies, space restrictions have led to “rolling” of baffle perimeter walls or “flanges” that increase bonding against the tank perimeter and take up additional space that eventually restricts performance due to the fact that tube center to center spaces can not be optimized. Thus, it would be especially desirable for an improved baffle design that can be incorporated into a heat exchanger, and particularly a multi-fluid heat exchanger, which makes efficient use of all heat exchanger tubes.